Ima
by Chiharu-Chan
Summary: That was then, this is now. The bored waitress of Funbari Onsen finds herself sneaking into the kitchen along with a certain guest. Macchi x Horohoro. Manatsu storyline. Oneshot


**Title**: Ima

**By:** Chiharu  
**Rating**: G-PG  
**Pairing**: Matilda Mattise and Horokue Usui.  
**Disclaimers**: Chiharu doesn't own Shaman King, 'kay? It belongs to Takei-sama, TV Tokyo, Shonen Jump, and 4KIDs, etc..  
**Summery**: _Ima_- Now. That was then, this is now; they can adjust.

Matilda Mattise always liked food. Maybe that was her inclination towards anything with the slight scent of sweetness and addiction to sugary substance, but she always found herself disobeying Hao-sama's orders.

In her heart, she knew that the boy was just trying to set her off on a road of healthy eating plans, but how could her heart say no to that wonderful delicacy of pumpkin pie? Hao-sama only wanted her happy, right? Then Hao-sama would have no objections to her actions of sneaking into the food pantry at night.

Only someone had thought up the same plan before her. She pushed the door to the kitchen open, blinking slightly. "Eh... What are you doing?"

Horokue Usui jumped up from his position next to the counter. Due to the lack of light coming through the kitchen, he hit his head on the cabinet. Swinging around, he smiled nervously before stuffing the bread behind his back. "I got lost on the way back from the restroom?"

Macchi raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "Your room is on the second floor."

"Well, eh." The Ainu boy paused, pressing onto his jaw. "The second-floor bathroom is flooded, so I had to come down here."

"Sure." The redhead offered him a disbelieving look, eyeing the dug-through cabinets and drawers. "And you just _happened_ to wander into here. You slipped, and your hand _accidently_ pulled the bread out of the refrigerator and the opening just _opened by itself_?" It was the excuse she had planned before hand for herself.

"Eh.. Yeah?"

They paused for a moment.

"Wait a minute." Horohoro shot up, dusting his pajamas. "I don't have to justify myself to you! I'm a guest here, you're just a waitress... Besides, what were _you_ doing here?"

"Eh..." She blinked. "I heard a crash from upstairs and decided to check it out?"

"Nonsense!" He declared proudly. "I made sure not to make any sound when coming down. You'd think such an experienced person like be would be sure to make myself unheard."

"Well, my cover is blown." Macchi shrugged, pulling herself onto the counter before taking a seat next to him. She paused before pulling another piece of bread from Horohoro's pre-opened packet.

They paused before mumbling a bit, ignoring each other for the time-being.

"Grab those crackers in the pantry." The girl spoke up, nibbling onto her piece of bread. Horohoro gave her an odd look before standing up, opening the said cabinet, pulling out a bag of cookies-crackers, and handing it to her.

"Here." She split the box in half, making sure to hand him the _smaller_ share.

"Wouldn't Tamao-chan be mad if she knew we were stealing food?" The Ainu boy replied, taking a seat next to her.

"What she doesn't know can't hurt her much." Macchi shrugged, stuffing a few pieces of cracker into her mouth. "Besides, Tamao doesn't take care of the kitchen; Sharona does. I don't think she really counts everything; that girl isn't very effective." He watched as she pulled up a rapped bowl from the pantry, slowly setting it down.

"What are you-"

"Shhh." She whispered, neatly slicking the knife through the another layer of the pie. Carefully handling the handle, she pulled the perfectly sliced piece out before setting it on the plate. She held it to him. "Here, you can have this one."

"What is it?" Horohoro eyed the brownish color, slightly de-hued by their lack of light. The moonlight only made him more hungry.

"Only the best in the world." Macchi giggled. "Pumpkin!"

He frowned. "How can you stand eating your spirit?" He wouldn't imagine digesting Kororo or another leaf-like plant. Just the thought made him sick; suddenly, the pie didn't look so appetizing anymore.

"Well, you know." Macchi shrugged. "A lot of people ask too much. Say, people that are vegetarians eat meat. They're all animals and living things. But if you _are_ a vegetarian, it doesn't make much more sense because plants are alive as well. Everything in the world is related to life on Earth, so it's better just to not ask too much."

"Easy for you to say; killing animals isn't the same as killing human."

The glare Horohoro receive told him that he had just infringed upon their line of acceptance.

"Look, Usui." Macchi set the plate down; her happy tone was no longer in presence. "There's a lot of things you don't know. You'll never know everything you want. Even if Yoh-sama and your friends managed to save some lives, that doesn't make you any more of a hero. There are people out there dying every day; if the most you can do is to sit here and stereotype me for what I believe in, then save it."

The boy bit his lips; that last statement came out wrong. "Hey, I-"

"Eat your pie and go back." Macchi replied, slicing her fork into her own portion.

"Well... You have nice table manners."

She looked up, blinking. "What?"

"I know." Horohoro rubbed the back of his head. "It's random, I know. My sister always told me to compliment people when they are mad at me. I'm not very good at compliments, but I let my mouth run off a lot. So, sorry, okay?"

"You're weird." Macchi declared, leaning back against the smooth surface of the high-tech refruituator.

"I am." He laughed.

"So... You're not mad at me anymore?"

"I'm fine." She shrugged.

"Well, no one can resist my Ainu charms." He smirked.

"You're weird." Macchi giggled, taking another bite of her pie. "In a good way, I guess."

"Are you?"

"Yep, I'm weird, but I'm proud of it." She chipped happily, setting her plate down. "Everyone here is weird; it's the way we function as a whole. The thing with you guys, and I'm talking about Yoh-sama's friends here, is that you underestimate us. We do a lot of the work here, and no one really appreciates it because they have this whole mental cycle set on how we're not gonna make it. You're all wrong though, we can do it."

"I believe you."

"Really?" The redhead blinked, digging into another piece of her pie.

"Yeah." Horohoro grinned. "Believing is the essence to dreaming. Our dreams shall never fulfill itself if we ever give up believing. Say, my dream is to restore the fields and the population of Koro Pokkuru, I can never stop believing. You never really lose until you stop believing, so I believe in you!"

"Great!" She smiled, clapping her hands together before leaning towards the boy. "If you really believe in us, there's something you can do!"

"Eh..." Horohoro had the sudden implication that this was going somewhere. "What?"

"Can you fix the Playground set for us?" She grabbed a piece of paper off of the kitchen counter, pointing to a neatly organized pie graph. "Our customer satisfaction rate is low for children, so we've been trying to build a playground set in the front yard to keep them happy."

"You are starting to scare me, in a very Anna-like fashion too."

"Really?" Macchi blinked. "Because if Kyouyama was here, she would slap you if you refuse to help."

"Eh..." Damn.

"Well, that's fine too." She smiled. "Because you believe in our dream, right? And I believe in yours!"

"You do?"

"Yeah." She nodded happily. "Personally, it goes along with Hao-sama's plans of restoring the balance on Earth. Our plans might've met a minor set back, but helping your ikustu tribe is another step towards accomplishing our overtime goal!"

If he knew better, and he didn't, Horohoro might've assumed that the girl was verbally tricking him into joining her cause.

**A/N**- When I started writing this, all possibilties of differences flew into my head. MacchiHoro just instantly _clicked_. There were so many reasons they could get along, even more than TamaoHoro.

Not making any sense? Don't worry, it's not suppose to. Again, I emphasis the fact that this _does_ go along with the storyline of **Manatsu**, so there.  
Ima- Now


End file.
